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‘Terrifying’: Israelis Recall ‘Deafening Explosion’ From Houthi Missile Strike on Tel Aviv
Israeli emergency services work at the scene of a missile strike by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that landed in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
Israelis living in the Tel Aviv area recounted to The Algemeiner the panic they felt with virtually no warning time to head into bomb shelters before a missile from the Houthi rebels in Yemen hit near their homes over the weekend.
A ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed group struck a playground in Tel Aviv, injuring at least 16 people and causing damage to nearby homes — the second attack in as many days — after several interception attempts by Israel’s air defense systems failed.
The Houthis — an internationally designated terrorist organization — claimed responsibility for the launch, stating that the missile, to which they referred as “Palestine 2,” accurately hit its target and that Israeli defense systems were unable to intercept it. The terrorist group declared that the attack was in retaliation for “the massacres against our brothers in Gaza.”
Jaffa resident Meital Cohen described the harrowing moments when the missile strike woke her and her young children. “We were just getting ready to head downstairs to the [building’s] bomb shelter with the kids,” she told The Algemeiner. “Suddenly, there was a deafening explosion. The [window] glass shattered and flew into the house.”
Windows in the Jaffa home of Meital Cohen damaged by a Houthi missile strike on Dec. 21, 2024. Photo: Provided by Meital Cohen
The blast was particularly alarming, Cohen said, as her children were still in rooms close to the area impacted. “It was terrifying,” Cohen said, “because it felt like the building might have been directly hit, and I was petrified for the children.”
No one was injured, although the explosion caused significant panic and the windows of her home blew out.
נזק נרחב לדירות ובתים באזור הנפילה ביפו, בעיקר חלונות וזכוכיות. 14 פצועים קל פונו עד כה. כך נראית הדירה של בת׳ שמספרת שלא הספיקה לרדת למקלט בזמן שכל הזכיות התנפצו בביתה מהפיצוץ בגינה שמתחת לבית pic.twitter.com/UCyD7xmu17
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) December 21, 2024
Another neighbor, Sylvia, who declined to give her last name, said it was “truly miraculous” that the missile struck a tiny playground located in between a dense cluster of residential buildings. “A few meters to the left or a few hours later, it would have been a very different story.”
Sylvia noted that it was the “second time that such a miracle had occurred” in recent days.
Overnight between Thursday and Friday, the Houthis launched another missile toward the center of Israel, and this time the projectile was only partially intercepted. The warhead crashed into a school in the city of Ramat Gan, outside Tel Aviv, causing one building to collapse and severe damage to another. Children were due to arrive at the school hours after the missile impacted.
ראשוני: שריפה פרצה בתל אביב כנראה בעקבות הירי מתימן | לכל העדכונים >>> https://t.co/s35YXgWTOI@AnnaPines_ @hadasgrinberg pic.twitter.com/8HnzAAcS9K
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 21, 2024
This attack adds to a series of assaults by the group on Israel since October 2023, including the launch of over 200 missiles and 170 attack drones.
Israel’s multi-layered air defense system, designed to counter a variety of aerial threats, includes the Iron Dome for short-range rockets, David’s Sling for medium-range missiles, and the Arrow system for long-range ballistic missiles. Nevertheless, the recent failure to intercept the Houthi missile has raised concerns about potential gaps in Israel’s defensive capabilities, prompting the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to announce that it was initiating a thorough investigation into the incident.
Experts attributed the failure of Israel’s missile defense systems to significant advancements in Houthi missile technology. Modifications, including reduced explosive payloads and increased fuel capacity, have extended their range, allowing them to reach Tel Aviv, a stark escalation from earlier strikes limited to Eilat in southern Israel — a closer target. Additionally, maneuverable warheads — likely developed in Iran — detach mid-flight and alter their trajectory, making them harder to intercept.
In response to the attack, the Israeli Air Force conducted retaliatory strikes targeting Houthi positions in Yemen, including strategic locations such as the port of Hodeidah and the capital city, Sana’a. US forces also conducted multiple airstrikes against Houthi positions with the aim of degrading the Houthis’ offensive capabilities and ensuring the security of vital maritime routes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would take forceful action against the Houthis as it had done with Hezbollah, another Iran-backed terrorist organization, in Lebanon.
“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so we will act against the Houthis,” he said.
“We will act with strength, determination and sophistication. I tell you that even if it takes time, the result will be the same,” he added.
מכתש בגן שעשועים: זירת הנפילה במרכז. pic.twitter.com/kn4gZmWaf2
— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) December 21, 2024
One day after Netanyahu’s statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday that the military shot down an attack drone launched by the Houthis from Yemen before it crossed into Israeli territory.
The Houthis have been waging an insurgency in Yemen for two decades in a bid to overthrow the Yemeni government. They have controlled a significant portion of the country’s land in the north and along the Red Sea since 2014, when they captured it in the midst of a civil war.
The Yemeni terrorist group began disrupting global trade in a major way with their attacks on shipping in the busy Red Sea corridor after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, arguing their aggression was a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.
The Houthi rebels — whose slogan is “death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory to Islam” — have said they will target all ships heading to Israeli ports, even if they do not pass through the Red Sea.
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught, which launched the ongoing war in Gaza, Houthi terrorists in Yemen have also routinely launched missiles toward Israel.
The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released a report in July revealing how Iran has been “smuggling weapons and weapons components to the Houthis.” The report noted that the Houthis used Iranian-supplied ballistic and cruise missiles to conduct over a hundred land attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and within Yemen, as well as dozens of attacks on merchant shipping.
While the Houthis have increasingly targeted Israeli soil in recent months, they have primarily attacked ships in the Red Sea, a key trade route, raising the cost of shipping and insurance. Shipping firms have been forced in many cases to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa to avoid passing near Yemen, having a major global economic impact.
In September, the Houthis’ so-called “defense minister,” Mohamed al-Atifi, said that the Yemeni rebels were prepared for a “long war” against Israel and its allies.
“The Yemeni Army holds the key to victory, and is prepared for a long war of attrition against the usurping Zionist regime, its sponsors, and allies,” he was quoted as saying by Iranian state-owned media
“Our struggle against the Nazi Zionist entity is deeply rooted in our beliefs. We are well aware of the fact that this campaign is a sacred and religious duty that requires tremendous sacrifices,” added Atifi, who has been sanctioned by the US government.
Beyond Israeli targets, the Houthis have threatened and in some cases actually attacked US and British ships, leading the two Western allies to launch retaliatory strikes multiple times against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The post ‘Terrifying’: Israelis Recall ‘Deafening Explosion’ From Houthi Missile Strike on Tel Aviv first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Alleged NYC terror plotter moved to Montreal detention pending extradition hearing
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, the 20-year-old Pakistani national who was arrested by the RCMP in Quebec on Sept. 4 about 20 kilometres from the U.S. border while allegedly en route to conduct an attack on Jews in New York City, has been moved to a prison in Montreal.
Khan is alleged to have devised a plot for the large-scale murder of Jews on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel and on Yom Kippur, in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group. According to U.S. Justice Department documents, Khan communicated to undercover agents that “if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.”
Khan, also known as Shazeb Jadoon, was arrested and detained in Rimouski, 550 km east of Montreal, until his Dec. 19 transfer. The Mississauga, Ont., resident speaks no French, and his lawyer said he could not work with his client while he was held there, where he could not help him understand government documents, and the suspect could not communicate with French-speaking prison guards.
He appeared briefly at the Montreal courthouse Friday morning and will return to Superior Court on Jan. 17, when a date will be set for an extradition hearing. Ottawa agreed to a U.S. extradition request for Khan to stand trial in the Southern District of New York on charges of attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Khan arrived in Canada in June 2023 on a student visa, Immigration Minister Marc Miller confirmed a week after the arrest, which was pursuant to section 495 of Canada’s Criminal Code: attempting to leave Canada to commit an offence for a terrorist group, participating in the activities of a terrorist group, and conspiracy to commit an offence by violating United States immigration law.
He was then re-arrested on a provisional warrant under the Extradition Act as Canadian authorities were uncertain whether they could detain him based on existing evidence.
“The news of threats to the Jewish community is alarming,” read an RCMP statement. “We will not tolerate any form of threats, harassment or violence targeting Jewish communities. The RCMP continues to work in collaboration with our domestic and international partners to detect, investigate and disrupt criminal acts that are targeting Jewish communities.
“With the strong partnership between Canada and the U.S. we can reassure the public that as his actions escalated, at no point in time was Khan an immediate threat prior to his arrest.”
According to the U.S. Justice Department complaint drawn up by an FBI counterterrorism agent, Khan planned to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out a mass shooting at Chabad locations. Authorities say he began posting on social media and communicating with others around November 2023 on an encrypted messaging application about his support for ISIS, when he allegedly distributed ISIS propaganda videos and literature.
He then began communicating with two undercover law enforcement officers, the complaint reads. “During those conversations, Khan confirmed that he and a U.S.-based ISIS supporter had been planning to carry out an attack in a particular U.S. city. Among other things, Khan said that he had been actively attempting to create ‘a real offline cell’ of ISIS supporters to carry out a ‘coordinated assault’ using AR-style rifles to “target Israeli Jewish chabads… scattered all around” the city.
According to the document, Khan envisioned teams launching three attacks simultaneously “on diff[erent] locations maximizing casualty count” and repeatedly instructed undercover agents to obtain assault rifles, ammunition and “some good hunting [knives] so we can slit their throats,” identifying specific locations where attacks would take place.
He also instructed them to acquire burner cell phones and allegedly provided details about how he would cross into the United States. During conversations with the agents, he allegedly emphasized that Oct. 7 and 11 were the best days for targeting Jews “because ‘Oct 7 they will surely have some protests and Oct 11 is yom kippur’.”
The complaint alleges that, just a few weeks after the Hamas attack in Israel, he was posting support for jihad and images of weapons. The FBI also says Khan boasted that New York is perfect to target Jews because it has the “largest Jewish population In america” and, therefore, “even if we dont attack a event [sic], we could rack up easily a lot of jews.” Khan then allegedly proclaimed, “We are going to nyc to slaughter them,” and sent a photograph of the area he envisioned for the attack.
Khan attempted to reach the U.S-Canada border using three separate cars before being apprehended in Ormstown, after officers from different police forces followed him from the Toronto area.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland thanked Canadian law enforcement for their assistance, adding “Jewish communities—like all communities in this country—should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack.”
The post Alleged NYC terror plotter moved to Montreal detention pending extradition hearing appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Israel for First Time Claims Responsibility for Killing of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
Iranians attend the funeral procession of assassinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 1, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday acknowledged for the first time that Israel killed Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
“These days, when the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the beginning of my remarks: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran’s defense systems and damaged the production systems, we have toppled the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last to stand,” Katz said during an event honoring defense ministry personnel.
Israel will “damage their strategic infrastructure, and we will behead their leaders. Just as we did to Haniyeh, [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, and [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon [respectively] — we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana’a,” Katz continued. “Whoever raises a hand against Israel will have their hand cut off, and the long arm of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will strike them and settle the score.”
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are all internationally designated terrorist organizations backed by Iran. Katz’s comments came after the Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv over the weekend. The Houthis have also been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and will prevent all ships from heading to Israeli ports.
Haniyeh, the exiled political chief of Hamas, was killed in an explosion in Iran’s capital city on July 31. Iran had accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and vowed revenge; however, for months the Israeli government had neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Haniyeh was based in Qatar and had been the face of Hamas’s during the Israel-Hamas war, which the Palestinian terroris group launched with its invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
Following Haniyeh’s death, Sinwar was named the terrorist group’s overall leader after being its top official in Gaza. Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in October.
The post Israel for First Time Claims Responsibility for Killing of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Should Scare Every American’: Top Trump Adviser Mike Waltz Explains Dangers of Iran Getting Nuclear Weapons
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who was recently tapped to serve as the White House national security adviser for the incoming Trump administration, outlined in a new interview why Iran’s nuclear program could pose a major threat to the United States and must be stopped.
During an interview with Daily Wire co-founder and conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro, Waltz said that his constituents often do not understand how Iran’s nuclear ambitions impact American interests. The lawmaker explained that Iran obtaining nuclear weapons could kick-start an arms race and geopolitical firestorm in the Middle East, potentially forcing the US to become more involved in the region militarily.
“No. 1, if Iran gets a nuke, the Saudis are going to want a nuke, the Turks are going to want a nuke, and the Middle East exploding, not literally but figuratively, in a nuclear arms race should scare every American,” Waltz said.
Though Waltz conceded that nuclear proliferation in the Middle East would not necessarily result in “World War III,” he asserted that it would be “catastrophic for the world.”
The lawmaker added that a nuclear-armed Iran would endanger Israel, which he described as America’s “critical ally, morally and historically and geopolitically,” and that the US should take threats by Iranian leadership to eliminate Israel seriously.
“We should believe [Iran’s so-called ‘supreme leader,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] who intends to wipe Israel off the face of the earth if they have nukes,” Waltz said.
Waltz also praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “exposing Iran’s air defenses so that they literally are naked right now and on their back foot.” He appeared to be referring to Israel’s precision airstrikes on Iranian military and air defense sites in October which devastated the regime’s air-defense system and ballistic missile program. The strikes were in response to Iran’s ballistic missile barrage against Israel weeks earlier.
Waltz went on to say that the incoming Trump administration plans on “hitting” Iran’s finances throughout the Middle East and stopping the flow of money “out of Tehran into Beirut and into [Iran’s] proxies in Syria.”
Iran has supported several terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — both of which have been devastated by Israeli military operations in recent months. The Iranian regime also backed the recently ousted Assad regime in Syria, where Israel launched limited operations to ensure security at its northeastern amid uncertainty about Syria’s future.
“I hope that all of this has Hamas so isolated. They really thought the cavalry was coming from the north with Hezbollah. Now, that has been shown not to be true; Hamas has every exit blocked except one, and that is to release our hostages if you want to live,” Waltz said.
Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under the Trump administration from 2017-2021 crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. US President-elect Donald Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
US intelligence agencies have for years labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, noting it devotes significant sums of money and weapons each year to supporting proxies across the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The post ‘Should Scare Every American’: Top Trump Adviser Mike Waltz Explains Dangers of Iran Getting Nuclear Weapons first appeared on Algemeiner.com.